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PIB’S BULLETIN ON COVID-19
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Indiacrosses a major landmark with more than 15 Crore Cumulative Vaccination Coverage
- India has crossed a significant landmark in its fight against COVID19 pandemic today. The cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 15 Cr.
- More than 21 lakh vaccination doses were administered in the last 24 hours.
- The National Mortality Rate has been falling and currently stands at 1.11%.
- Six States/UTs have not reported any COVID19 deaths in the last 24 hours. These are D&D & D&N, Ladakh , Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.
For details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1714778
Govt. of India has so far provided more 16.16 crore vaccine doses to States/UTs Free of Cost
More than 1 crore COVID Vaccine doses  are still available with the States/UTs to be administered.More than 20 Lakh  vaccine doses will be received in addition by the States/UTs within the next 3 days. It is clarified that the total COVID vaccine doses received by Maharashtra as on 28th April 2021  are 1,63,62,470. Of this, the total consumption including wastage  was 1,56,12,510. Balance of 7,49,960vaccine doses is still available with the state for administration to the eligible population groups.
For details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1714777
PM reviews Army’s preparedness & initiatives for Covid management
Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. They discussed various initiatives being taken by the Army to help in Covid management.General MM Naravane apprised the PM that Army is opening up its hospitals for civilians wherever possible. He also added that citizens can approach their nearest army hospitals.General MM Naravane informed the PM that the Army is helping with manpower for imported Oxygen tankers and vehicles where specialised skills are required to manage them.
For Details:https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1714810
Dr Harsh Vardhan Reviews COVID Facility at Lady Hardinge Medical College
Union Health Minister Announces Further Enhancement in Bed Capacity at Lady Hardinge Medical College.The Union Minister first visited the IPD Block where a 240 bed facility is being setup, to be operational within two weeks. The Union Minister then visited the Vaccination Centre where he praised the efforts of the hospital in vaccinating people in a very well organized, orderly and disciplined manner.
For Details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1714868
AYUSH 64 found useful in the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 infection
AYUSH 64, a poly herbal formulation developed by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences , Ministry of Ayush is useful in the treatment of asymptomatic, mild and moderate COVID-19 infection as an adjunct to standard care. It is worthwhile to mention that initially the drug was developed for Malaria in the year 1980 and now is repurposed for COVID-19
For Details:https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1714815
COVID-19 facility Dashboard for ESIC Hospitals
ESIC, under Ministry of Labour & Employment, in its endeavour to fulfil its social responsibility has taken another step to enhancecitizen centricservices and dissemination of information during the current pandemic.The need of the hour is to increase the number of beds for COVID care. Many of the ESI health facilities meant forits beneficiaries,have been opened up for the benefit of the citizens of our country for COVID care.
For Details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1714870
ESIC reaches out to its Beneficiaries to provide medical care and relief during Covid-19 pandemic
The Insured Person and/or his family members in case of being infected with COVID-19 can avail free of cost medical care in any of the ESIC/ ESIS Hospital which has been declared as COVID-19 dedicated hospital. Presently 21 ESIC hospitals run directly by ESIC with 3676 COVID Isolation Beds, 229 ICU beds and 163 ventilator beds and 26 ESI Scheme Hospitals run by State Govts. having 2023 beds are functioning as COVID-19 dedicated hospitals.
For details:https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1714467
Oxygen Express Operations expand to Haryana & Telangana after Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi
Cumulative liquid medical oxygen  carried by Indian railways to reach almost 640 MT in next 24 hrs. Uttar Pradesh receives its 5th Oxygen express carrying more than 76 MT LMO, 6th on its way.Oxygen Express Operations of Indian Railways continue to bring relief to the States
For details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1714850
Mansukh Mandaviya reviews the preparedness of hospitals of Major Ports for COVID Care Management
Minister directed all Chairpersons of Major Ports to ramp up their capacity and facilities by utilizing CSR funds and make them operational as fast as possible in the coming days. Minister also reiterated the Chairpersons to personally monitor the Medical Oxygen related cargo for swift and efficient handling of it at all Major Ports.
For details:https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1714859
CSIR-CMERI transfers the technology to companies’ to ramp up the production of Oxygen Enrichment Unit
CSIR-CMERI has transferred the license for production, marketing and service to four industries and he is confident that the all four parties are able to manufacture the product by the 2nd week of May 2021.
For Details:https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1714854
IIT Bombay shows how to solve Oxygen shortage by converting Nitrogen Generator into Oxygen Generator
IITBombay has come up with a creative and ingenious solution to addressing the shortage of medical oxygen for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in the country. The pilot project which has been tested successfully relies on a simple technological hack: conversion of PSA  Nitrogen Unit to PSA Oxygen Unit!
For Details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1714821
INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES
Maharashtra:TheMaharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has written to the Prime Minister urging him to declare the pandemic as a natural disaster and give economic relief to those most affected.Meanwhile IIT Bombay has developed a low cost solution to address the oxygen shortage, by converting the Nitrogen generator into Oxygen generator.
Gujarat:The Gujarat High Court has directed the state government to make sure each and every patient reaching a designated COVID-19 hospital is attended to and given preliminary treatment even if beds are not available.
Rajasthan:The vaccination drive for those who are 18 years and above may get delayed in Rajasthan as the State Government has not received any confirmation or communication on the availability of vaccines from the Serum Institute of India . TheRajasthan Government has sought 3.75 crore vaccines in the first phase. The state recorded 120 Covid deaths and 16,613 fresh infections on Wednesday, taking the overall casualty count to 3,926 and cumulative tally to 5,63,577. The number of active cases in the state currently stands at 1,63,372.
Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has said that oxygen supply to the state has increased five times from 130 MT on 8th April to 540 MT now. On Wednesday oxygen was supplied to 18 districts in the state. Oxygen express carrying life saving tankers from Bokaro arrived in Bhopal yesterday. Meanwhile, Corona curfew has been extended in Madhya Pradesh till 7th May as the cases of infections have increased in Bhopal,Indore and five major districts.
Chhattisgarh: The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has written a letter to Union Health Minister Harshvardhan, urging him to notify medicines used in the treatment of coronavirus under the Essential Commodities Act.
Kerala: As the number of Covid patients is on the rise in the state, ICU beds in most of the hospitals have started to fill up fast. Beds in almost all hospitals in Ernakulam, Malappuram and Kozhikode are full. The government is planning to utilize the facilities in private hospitals once the government hospitals run out of beds. The Kerala Government Medical Officers' Association has recommended lockdown for 2 weeks in the state due to the rapid surge in the number of Covid infections. Meanwhile according to the new guidelines issued today, priority will be given to those due for a second dose while scheduling a session at a Covid vaccine centre. The state clocked its highest ever spike of 35,013 Covid-19 cases along with 41 deaths yesterday. 4,977 people took their first dose and 6,107 took their second dose yesterday.
Tamil Nadu:The State on Wednesday issued orders to procure 1.5 crore doses of vaccines through Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation ; the move comes after the State reported 16,665 fresh cases and 98 deaths on Wednesday, taking the tally to 11,30,167 and the toll to 13,826. TN's semi-urban towns - Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tenkasi and Nagapattinam - continued to witness surge in Covid-19 cases. Stanley hospital in Chennai has added 1,250 beds to treat COVID-19 patients, of which 900 are Oxygen beds. Puducherry on Wednesday logged 1,258 fresh Covid cases, the highest single-day tally so far; as many as 10 people have succumbed to Covid on Wednesday, taking the toll to 781 in the UT. TN vaccinated 1,16,735 people yesterday.
Karnataka:In the biggest single-day spike, Karnataka recorded 39,047 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the tally to 14.39 lakh, while fatalities crossed the 15,000-mark with 229 deaths. Around 1,33,077 were vaccinated yesterday. The people of the state have come out in support of the 14-day Janata Curfew. Hours after the 14-day lockdown started in Karnataka to contain the spread of Covid-19, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday appealed to the people to abide by the norms to break the chain of Covid infection
Andhra Pradesh: The State reported 14,669 new Covid-19 cases after testing 74,748 samples with 71 deaths, while 6433 got discharged during the last 24 hours. A total of 62,82,487 doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the state as on yesterday, which include 49,55,417 first dose and 13,27,070 second doses. The Group of Ministers, who met in Vijayawada to review the Covid-19 situation, asserted that there was no shortage of oxygen and Remdesvir injections. State Health Minister said, the district-level vigilance committees were formed to prevent black marketing of Remdesivir injections and action would be taken against the hospitals if they ask the patients to buy the injection from outside. The Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed the State government to take appropriate measures to ensure that there is no shortage of oxygen in the state for treating Covid-19 affected. The High Court directed the government to immediately set up flying squads on hospital treatment, collection of fees and other matters.
Telangana: State Public Health Director Dr.G.Srinivasa Rao said the vaccination for the aged between 18-44 years in the state will take time and is NOT available from 1st May, as decided earlier. He said the State Government has already decided to vaccinate all freely and guidelines have to be framed for this. However, he said these people can register their names online so that the Govt will get an idea on how many people are ready to take vaccine. Meanwhile, a total of 7,994 new Covid cases and 58 fatalities were reported on Wednesday in the state. Number of active cases in the state now stands at 76,060. A total of 1,09,324 people of all categories received first dose of Covid vaccine and 28,828 second dose yesterday in the state.
Assam:The Assam State Health Department has fixed the rates of COVID-19 Tests TrueNat and CBNAAT at Rs 1,200/- each. The two tests can be done only in laboratories that have ICMR and NABL approval.22 COVID-19 deaths were reported in the State in the last 24 hours. Also 3,045 new positive cases were reported out of 55,480 tests carried out, at a positivity rate of 5.49.
Manipur:Manipur's COVID-19 caseload crossed the 31,000-mark as new daily positive cases surged to a record 259. Wednesday recorded the highest single-day new COVID-19 positive cases in 2021 and two more deaths in the State.So far, 1,47,012 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Meghalaya: Meghalaya recorded more than 100 fresh cases for the tenth day in a row while the death toll climbed to 167 with two more fatalities. With 159 new cases, the active tally rose to 1,475. Vaccination for people aged 18-45 years may not take off in Meghalaya from May 1 due to the unavailability of vaccines.
Nagaland :Nagaland registered 124 new COVID-19 cases and 1 death on Wednesday. Active cases reached 952. 703 cases reported in last 7 days in Dimapur alone.A total of 1,97,549 beneficiaries have been inoculated in Nagaland so far. Of them, 1,56,890 have received first doses while 40,659 have received second doses.
Tripura:Vaccination for 18-45 to be delayed in the State and to be started not before 20th May. However, the ongoing vaccination programme for people above 45 years will continue uninterrupted. Meanwhile in last 24 hours 124 people tested positive for COVID-19. A 600 litre Oxygen plant has been set up in Tripura Medical college while another plant would be set up in GBP hospital by first week of June.
Sikkim:Sikkim registered a record surge in dailycases of COVID-19 with 151 people testing positive for Coronavirus across the State today. The previous record was 149 cases registered on 14 August, 2020. A total of 2,873 Covishield vaccine jabs were administered.
Punjab: The total number of patients tested Positive is 358186. Number of active cases is 53426. Total Deaths reported is 8772. Total COVID-19 Vaccinated with 1st dose  is 612197. Total COVID-19 Vaccinated with 2nd dose  is 178962. Total above 45 Vaccinated with 1st dose is 2214342. Total above 45 Vaccinated with 2nd dose is 181211.
Chandigarh: Total Lab confirmed COVID-19 cases is 41122. Total number of Active Cases is 6306. Total number of COVID-19 deaths till date is 457.
Himachal Pradesh: Total number of patients tested Covid positive till date is 93889. Total number of Active Cases is 16098. Total deaths reported till date is 1407.
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